Mistimed Misfortune: Chapter Ten:

White. That was the first thing Raito registered. The room he was laying in was very white, but, oh look, there's a spot of black. It's fuzzy-looking, Raito thought. Everything is fuzzy looking… Raito raised a hand sluggishly and waved it in front of his face. He giggled. It's fuzzy, too.

"Raito-kun, who are you talking to?" The black blur asked.

What? Raito wondered groggily, I'm not talking to anyone. Who's in here anyways? Did I hit my head or something?

"It's me, Ryuuga. And yes, you did hit your head when you collapsed." The blur- 'Ryuuga Hideki- answered Raito's thoughts.

Am I thinking aloud? Raito questioned himself suddenly.

"Yes." Ryuuga stated.

"Oh. Sorry. Where am I?" Raito inquired.

Ryuuga laughed, "Why are you apologizing? Anyway, you're in the nurse's office, and you can go home when you are no longer dizzy."

Raito stood up quickly, ignoring the way his head spun and his vision blurred. "Great, we're late for tennis practice. Let's go, Hideki-san." He stumbled forward a few steps, and would have fallen, but Ryuuga caught the ten-year-old boy.

In an attempt to distract Raito, Ryuuga said, "I am going to tell you a secret. I am L."

"Ryuuga-san, when I said to stop pretending to be a pop star, I didn't mean this!" Raito laughed.

L frowned. "I am serious. I am L."

"I know." Raito responded. "I've had my suspicions from the beginning. Once you said your name was 'Ryuuga Hideki', I was fairly certain. You need a better alias, oh great detective."

"And you need to lie down before you pass out," countered the famous detective.

Raito stubbornly ignored L's previous statement in favor of attempting to leave for tennis. "I'm late, and you failed miserably at distracting me from that fact. So, I'll be going." Raito tripped over nothing.

"No, you are staying here if I have to make you." L insisted. "Just lay down before you hurt yourself!"

"No way! Tennis, remember?" Raito shrieked indignantly as the older detective picked him up and slung him on the cot.

"Stay. Here. I'll be right back." L commanded.

Frustrated but unwilling to move from the soft and warm makeshift bed, Raito sighed to make his annoyance known and closed his eyes. When L returned, the younger male was asleep. L smiled as he watched his friend rest.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Raito was not as disorientated as he woke the second time. He was more than ready to go home. He got up quickly and started towards the door.

"Raito-kun," L said quietly.

Raito jumped and turned around to see L sitting in his signature crouch. "Oh, you didn't have to wait here."

"Yes, I did, because Raito-kun is my first friend." L responded.

"Thank you," Raito whispered. "I've never had a friend before…"

Is it possible, Raito thought, to trust him?

Could I possibly, L wondered, be his friend?

Could he possibly, Raito paused, be my friend?

Is it possible, L pondered, to trust him?

I've never truly been lonely until I met L, and grasped exactly what I was missing! I've never been able to have a friend before. But now I think, a friend like L, astute and calculating, would be pleasant. Raito grinned. I won't let anyone stop me from having a friend.

I've never been truly lonely until I met Raito, and appreciated exactly what I was missing… I've never desired a friend before. But perhaps, a friend like Raito, fast-thinking and sardonic, is just what I require. L realized. I won't let myself prevent this friendship.

As one the two thought, no one will separate us, not even… him.

XXXXXXX

L insisted on walking Raito home. As Raito opened the door to Matsuda's apartment, the new detective barreled out the door, pulling Raito into a bone-crushing hug.

"Ototo, I was so worried! Where have you been?" The eldest detective exclaimed.

L answered for the caramel-eyed boy. "He had a panic attack and passed out. He stayed in the nurse's office for quite a while."

"Oji-san, this is my friend from school, Ryuuga Hideki-san." Raito choked out between desperate gasps for air. "Also… you're… crushing… me!"

"Oh… sorry." Matsuda released the boy and bowed to L. "Thank you for helping Raito-kun, Ryuuga-kun. Allow me to make you dinner."

"I really shouldn't…" L trailed off.

"You must!" Matsuda declared, and shoved both schoolboys inside.

L sputtered, "I… er, okay."

Raito laughed and grabbed L's hand. "Come on, I'll show you my notes!"

L blushed as Raito led him to his room. "You've been working on the case?" He mumbled in faux surprise.

"You know, I do recall telling you this quite a few times, oh great detective." Raito mocked, "I've already given the police what I could gather from the Aizawa Murders, but I took a look at Ukita's scene late last night."

"And what did you discover?" L queried.

Raito began to divulge. "Ukita was killed in the passenger seat and dragged into the driver's seat. I assume that it was Ryuuzaki's intent to make it look like he killed Ukita behind HQ, when really; he couldn't have, because Ukita wouldn't have been foolish enough to park in a blind spot of the cameras- he knew he was at risk. Also, I've began to see a pattern; the kills are separated by a certain number of days, which decreases after each murder. Four days, then three days, so by that logic two days is next, and the next murder will be tomorrow."

"Was there a note left for… 'Lollipop'?" L whispered.

Raito hesitated. "It scares me, but… 'Happy birthday, Lollipop! I haven't got you a present yet, but I will find you a bright playmate!'

L fell onto Raito's bed. "You are thinking the same thing, aren't you?"

"I… he's after the both of us, isn't he?" Raito whimpered, terrified. He sank down to the floor and pulled his knees up to his chest. "Oh, Kami, why is this happening?"

L frowned. "I have to catch him. Now, he has threatened my friend, and that is inexcusable."

"I shouldn't have run from him. It would have been better for everyone." Raito whispered.

"How can you say that? You are my best friend. I don't want you getting hurt, not ever." L hissed, leaping off the bed and pulling Raito into a hug. "Don't ever say that again."

Raito, who had tensed up, relaxed at the hug. "I won't. I… come on; let's get some cake."

L grabbed Raito's hand and yanked the younger male to a standing position and towards the kitchen. "Raito-kun says there is caaaaaaake!"

"You are quite excited, Ryuuga-kun, but cake is for dessert and snacks." Matsuda said cheerfully, stirring something in a pot.

L laughed. "Then let's have a snack before dinner!"

Matsuda snorted. "You are a strange one, Ryuuga-kun. Sorry, but there shall be no cake until after we have my famous miso soup." He reached up and opened a cabinet. The cheerful man pulled out a box of strawberry pocky, and gave a stick to each boy. "Here, you can have this."

Each claimed their pocky happily. L closed his eyes and began to enjoy his snack when…

SNAP! The famous detective's eyes shot open. Raito had snapped off the other half of L's pocky and eaten it. "Hey, that was mine!" L interjected. Raito laughed and lifted his own pocky towards his lips. L leaned forward, reached out and snapped it in half, greedily snatching up the larger piece. "An eye for an eye, Tsuki-kun."

Raito pouted before remembering the other half of his pocky. He nibbled on it slowly as he whined, "You couldn't have let me have it?"

"No," stated the teen bluntly. Both boys burst into laughter.

As Matsuda Touta stirred his soup, he smirked.

XXXXXXX

"Mother, Father, I'm home!" Lawliet called, walking into his home after school. "School was great, and I got the highest score again!"

No answer.

Lawliet was scared. His mother and father were always home after school. Always. Mother worked while he was at school and Father worked nights. He headed into the kitchen and froze. It was normally spotless, but today, there was a bowl of half-finished cookie dough. Flour was spilled all over the floor and counter, and the oven was preheated with something burning inside. Lawliet turned it off, and headed for the living room.

Two headless corpses sat on the couch.

Lawliet screamed.

XXXXXXXXX

Yes, I'm cruel. You should know this by now. Anyways, everyone knows you abuse the characters you love the most. ;D

It's been awhile since the last update, huh? I'm sorry. Well, I had to type this at school and 'borrow' my sister's computer because I'm grounded. Again. Of course, this is normal for me. It doesn't help that I have another couple ideas for DN stories that I want to type up too. But, never fear, this story will be updated as much as I can!

Oh, and bad news. I'm going on vacation next week, and I won't be able to update at all while I'm gone. But I'll try to type up some chapters while I'm there and post them as soon as I can.

Oh my god, it's ten chapters! How much longer is this going to be? Well, as far as I can tell, at least twenty more chapters, possibly thirty or forty more. So, if you love long stories, I got you covered. Hopefully you can stick with me that long...

And with the pocky, come on now, did you really think they were gonna kiss? They're ten and thirteen. Plausible? Yes. Likely? You (and I) wish.

And I am officially traumatized. If you actually care, check out my blog. There's a link on my profile, if you're interested. I will also be using the blog for updates on why I'm not updating here, if the need arises for me to do so.